Air Transat Makes Strategic Leap with New Rio de Janeiro Flights from Toronto and Montreal Français
MONTREAL, Aug. 7, 2025 /CNW/ - Air Transat, voted World's Best Leisure Airline at the 2025 Skytrax World Airline Awards, today announces new non-stop service to Rio de Janeiro * from both Toronto and Montreal. These flights will be operated with the Airbus A330 aircraft; twice weekly from Toronto (on Wednesdays and Saturdays) and once weekly from Montreal (on Thursdays), where Air Transat will be the only carrier offering a non-stop service. This addition is part of a broader set of recent announcements that reinforce the company's winter offering.
This winter, Air Transat will operate a total of 14 new routes from its Canadian gateways, including several new destinations and the extension of certain transatlantic services. From Montreal, travellers will enjoy non-stop access to Rio de Janeiro, Guadalajara, Valencia, Bordeaux and Madrid. From Toronto, they will be able to fly to Georgetown (Guyana), Medellín, and Istanbul in partnership with Turkish Airlines, in addition to Rio de Janeiro.
"This enriched winter schedule marks an important milestone in the evolution of our network," said Sebastian Ponce, Transat's Chief Revenue Officer. "By targeting markets we have never served before, we are pursuing a clear diversification strategy toward destinations that Canadians are eager to explore, supported by growing connectivity through our expanding network of partners."
Air Transat's winter program to the South also continues to diversify, with departures not only from major hubs, but also from Quebec City and new Canadian cities such as Windsor, Fredericton and Charlottetown.
New for Winter 2025-2026:
*Number of weekly frequencies at the peak of the season.
Air Transat is also strengthening its overall winter offering by increasing capacity and adding frequencies on several existing routes to the South and across the Atlantic, giving even more flexibility to its clients. Compared to last winter, this year's schedule represents a capacity increase of approximately 6%.
Expanded transatlantic program:
*Number of weekly frequencies at the peak of the season, along with variations compared to winter 2024-2025.
Expanded South program:
Route
Details*
Halifax (YHZ) – Montego Bay (MBJ)
Extended season (starting in December) and 2 flights/week (+1)
Montreal (YUL) – Punta Cana (PUJ)
16 flights/week (+2)
Montreal (YUL) – Holguin (HOG)
5 flights/week (+1)
Montreal (YUL) – Puerto Vallarta (PVR)
6 flights/week (+1)
Montreal (YUL) – Pointe-à-Pitre (PTP)
4 flights/week (+1)
Toronto (YYZ) – Cayo Coco (CCC)
4 flights/week (+1)
Toronto (YYZ) – Cartagena (CTG)
2 flights/week (+1)
Toronto (YYZ) – Puerto Plata (POP)
5 flights/week (+1)
Toronto (YYZ) – Saint Martin (SXM)
2 flights/week (+1)
Toronto (YYZ) – Rio Hato (RIH)
3 flights/week (+1)
Quebec City (YQB) – Cancún (CUN)
7 flights/week (+1)
Quebec City (YQB) – Holguin (HOG)
3 flights/week (+1)
*Number of weekly frequencies at the peak of the season, along with variations compared to winter 2024-2025.
Connectivity within the Air Transat network also continues to improve, particularly through its growing complementarity with Porter Airlines' flights, which facilitate connections from Montreal, Toronto and Quebec City.
*The flights have been planned in coordination with Brazilian and Canadian authorities and remain subject to the required regulatory approvals.
About Air Transat
Founded in Montreal 37 years ago, Air Transat is a leading travel brand voted 2025 World's Best Leisure Airline by passengers at the Skytrax World Airline Awards. Its program offers access to international destinations, mainly in Europe, the Caribbean, the east coast of the United States, South America and North Africa. Air Transat is recognized for its excellent customer service. Its fleet includes some of the most energy-efficient aircraft in their category. Based in Montreal with major hubs in YUL Montréal-Trudeau International Airport and Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ), it has 5,000 employees with a common purpose to bring people closer together. Air Transat is a business unit of Transat A.T. Inc. (TSX: TRZ). www.airtransat.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Star
6 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Canada needs to reset its relationship with China. Here's why
Opponents of Prime Minister Mark Carney's efforts to reset Canada's relationship with China are profoundly misguided. Their arguments — rooted in Cold War thinking and exaggerated threat perceptions — ignore Canada's urgent economic realities and the tangible dangers posed by its southern neighbour. Facing unprecedented pressure from a hostile United States under Donald Trump, clinging to reflexive hawkish rhetoric on China is both irrational and self-destructive. Beyond ignoring this precarious geopolitical landscape, detractors blocking a pragmatic reset dismiss a stark reality: the United States has become Canada's primary threat. Trump's repeated threats to devour Canada — demanding annexation of its resources, water and land — directly endanger Canadian sovereignty. As Carney warned, 'If they succeed, they will destroy our way of life.'
Edmonton Journal
9 hours ago
- Edmonton Journal
City of Calgary announces procurement of 120 electric transit buses
More than 100 emission-free buses will be rolling along Calgary's streets in the next three years. Article content Calgary Transit is purchasing 120 new electric buses, the city announced Friday, thanks to funding support from a previous federal government grant. Article content Article content The procurement of Canadian-made Nova LFSe+ electric buses from longtime supplier Nova Bus will replace some aging diesel-fuelled vehicles and strengthen service reliability, the city said in a news release. Article content Article content The e-buses are already being used in Banff, Toronto and Ottawa, and have 'proven performance in Canadian climates,' the city said. Article content Article content 'Thanks to federal support, the investment will increase fleet size while diversifying fuel sources and reducing long-term costs,' the release stated. Article content Under the previous Justin Trudeau government, federal ministers announced a $325-million grant for the City of Calgary in June 2023 to aid in the purchase of 259 electric buses. Article content In line with federal targets, the city is aiming to decarbonize its transit system by 2050. Calgary Transit is in the midst of an almost half-billion-dollar fleet transition. Article content The funding breakdown for that transition is $100 million from the city, $123 million from the Canada Infrastructure Bank and $220 million from the Zero Emission Transit Fund. The federal funding includes both bus costs and infrastructure and facility upgrades. Article content Article content The electric bus program is only one part of our multi-faceted fleet plan that will continue to look at different opportunities to incorporate other fuels in our fleet as well,' Calgary Transit director Sharon Fleming said in an interview Friday. Article content Article content Deliveries will begin in 2027 and all 120 buses are slated to be in use by the end of 2028. Article content Once in service, the 120 e-buses would account for approximately 10 per cent of the city's bus and shuttle fleet, according to Fleming. Article content 'It will also give us an opportunity to try electric buses,' she said. 'If we're to one day go to hydrogen buses, a lot of the platform that we use to run the electric buses is actually replicated in the hydrogen fuel cell buses, so it gives us some learnings we could use in the future.'
Toronto Sun
11 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
GUNTER: Canada still hasn't seen Carney's promised leadership
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during a press conference after a Cabinet meeting to discuss both trade negotiations with the US and the situation in the Middle East, at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on July 30, 2025. Photo by DAVE CHAN / AFP via Getty Images The chances of Canada convincing Donald Trump's White House to reverse his tariffs on a wide range of Canadian goods seems remote. There's a possibility cases working their way through the U.S. courts will — maybe within the next six to 12 months — find Trump has overstepped his authority to impose tariffs and reverse them. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Who knows, the U.S. Senate may even find its spine and take back much of its Constitutional authority over tariffs. It's also just possible large sections of his MAGA base will turn on Trump as his tariff policies increase inflation and unemployment. Could happen. In the meantime, Canada has to make whatever deal it can with Trump while also making itself more resilient against U.S. trade sanctions. Keep in mind that the Americans' much-touted deals with the E.U., the U.K. and Japan aren't really deals at all. There are no documents, the details are sketchy and the two sides in each now disagree over just what each deal contains. Trump just likes the show of being Mr. Tough Guy, of having other countries' leaders appear to bow before him and kiss his ring. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It won't be easy for Canada to get the same kind of 'deal' as those other countries. Trump seems to have a special hate on for Canada. And we are being backburnered by the Trump administration. Our concerns are being handled by mid-level officials, not boss-to-boss, despite Prime Minister Mark 'Elbows Up' Carney insistence that he knows Trump, knows who to deal with him and is uniquely qualified to reach an agreement. If we could even just return to Harper-era export levels with the U.S., Canada would be far less vulnerable. Under Stephen Harper's government, about 75 per cent of our foreign trade was with our southern neighbour. Now, thanks to the Liberals' complete indifference to all things economic, Ottawa has taken the easy path for the last 10 years until we are reliant on the Americans for 90 per cent of our trade. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. They account for around one-quarter of our GDP, while we account for less than three per cent of theirs. That means Canada has a need for a deal, but lacks leverage. So we need to export more to other countries to make us less susceptible to shocks from the U.S. Read More But given all that, where is the leadership from Carney? Remember his expansive promises to bring down internal trade barriers and get major projects going that would help us expand our exports around the globe? Name me one such objective he has checked off to date. We're never going to get over our dependence on the U.S., nor should we want to. Theirs is the largest, richest economy in the world and we have primo access to it. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. But we do need to make the most of our natural resource potential by opening mines, building pipelines and constructing or expanding ports. Yet while Carney talks about all those things, his latest 'action' on constructing a promised economic corridor came Thursday when he promised Indigenous groups that would have a quasi veto over projects they disliked. To understand what's at stake, consider that new figures on the Trans Mountain pipeline, completed just last year, shows it will generate in short order about $13 billion in new income for oil companies and governments. Imagine if we had two or even three more pipelines for oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), plus some major mines for the rare earth minerals currently in such demand. Yet if Canada has no trade deal with the U.S. (not even a faux one) and years and years more of lengthy negotiations on resource megaprojects, our economy will continue to sputter along. Columnists Toronto & GTA Toronto Blue Jays World Toronto & GTA
